"Fortunate Fall" by Audrey Assad View All Reviews

Until this album I was unfamiliar with the music or career of Audrey Assad, but after hearing one of these songs on the radio, I felt the desire to take a chance on this melancholy adult contemporary CD. Mostly comprised of soft piano rock, I am reminded of someone like Sarah McLachlan or Tori Amos sitting in front of the keys and pouring their heart out. The difference here is Assad is pouring her heart out for God.
Beginning with a song of quiet ethereal tones we soon realize her focus is on praise and worship, with self-reflecting, quietly uplifting music that praises God. Next comes Piano and bells, along with angelic choral voices on “Oh Happy Fault”, a track that is near instrumental and just a little over two minutes long. This seems to be designed to get one into a worshipful mood.

As if to prepare you for her church of musical worship, she implores “Lead Me On”, a song of the Lord’s presence and guidance. As she declares ‘I will dwell in your house forever’, we are nothing less than moved.

Piano and chamber strings take us into “I Shall Not Want”, before they bring us to the album’s centerpiece, “Good To Me.” This track, a celebration of God’s love, features a full band with light distorted guitars and a confident rhythm section. The listener may easily find themselves singing along for the lyrics at one point seem to be taken straight from a page of her Bible: “Your goodness and mercy shall follow me all my life.” The final refrain with its sing-along phrasing made me want to walk into my local community church and lead a revival, it’s so uplifting and encouraging.

As we move into the latter half of the Cd we are treated to “Felix Culpa”, an instrumental dominated by piano and chamber strings. Quiet and reflective, it gives us time to take in the full message of the previous song and prepare us for what comes next. What I noticed at this point was the album runs like a church service on CD. Moments of reflection, worship, praise, and even hushed instrumentals afford you a moment to pray without being too distracted.

“Spirit Of The Living God” makes this evident with lyrical phrasing that reminds one of a Celtic chant, before easing into the album’s finale, “You Speak”, where Assad ends these musical praisings with the truth that ‘In this silence of the heart, you speak.’ A great ending to an equally good CD. I recommend this to those who want to take a moment to reflect on God’s glory and how he works within us, or those who like their worship music just a little quieter than other worship albums on the market.

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